Higher Minimum Wages Saves Lives

“One recent study found that if every state in the country had bumped up its minimum wage by one dollar in 2014, “there would likely have been 2790 fewer low birth weight births and 518 fewer post-neonatal deaths for the year.” Another found that if New York City had had a $15 minimum wage between 2008 and 2012, as many as 5,500 premature deaths could have been avoided.” – Salon

Minimum wage increases aren’t just economic and lifestyle issues. Letting poor people earn more money means fewer child deaths, but it also affects life expectancy in general previous studies have also reported a life expectancy inequality that is associated with wealth and income inequality. Preventative health care, whether for infants or adults, is cheaper than health care for maladies; which therefore suggests a decrease in health care costs in general.